Pita Pit Owner Responds to ‘Shocking’ Spit Video, Worries About Impact on Business

Missoula Pita Pit Co-owner Chris Butz has seen a lot of things during the night shift and as an owner of a downtown establishment, but he says he never experienced anything like the aftermath of what happened when a store employee was filmed spitting into a pita during a late-night spat with customers last weekend

"You know, as a small business owner, you are up late at night worrying about possible things that could happen, but this is something I never dreamt could happen," Butz said. "It's stunning, shocking and I'm shaking still. We're trying to work through it and I'm blow away by the tremendous support of people calling and texting me, that's really uplifting.

The video of the altercation has gone viral, even being featured on Fox News. Butz says the spitting employee is now an “ex-employee” but would not disclose if she quit or was fired. Now, the situation is in the hands of police and the community.

"We don't know exactly what happened before the video or after the video, all we know is what we see in the video and for that we are just tremendously sorry," Butz said. "We've been around for 14 years and we want to be around for another 14. We have no idea the impact that this incident will have on us. We know it is a very tight business even under good conditions and now we're dealing with this, but the people of Missoula, like I said, have just been super, super kind."

Butz says conflict resolution is something every new employee experiences training on, but it’s become a real focus after the video. Butz says the old adage ‘nothing good happens after midnight’ can be correct a lot of the time, and he should know: the Pita Pit stays open till 3 a.m. and often catches the downtown bar crowd when they close at 2:00 a.m.